Paul Mush – CEO

Paul’s first career was as a bass player in the Garage Band era of the 60’s at 14 years old. Working gigs for free and then being paid. He loved motorcycles and cars and turned a wrench or two. He was fascinated by devices and found himself as a technician diagnosing and repairing typewriters, copiers and other office equipment. At night he studied electronics. After graduating he found jobs in medical electronics, laser systems and in vehicle engineering. He did a two-year contract as a biomedical tech at an AMI hospital in Al Baha, Saudi Arabia. Paul worked at the Kellogg Eye Center at the University of Michigan, while a graduate student, developing research instrumentation systems. While in college he made time to take woodworking and glassblowing classes gaining an appreciation of craftsmanship.

He wanted to transition into entrepreneurship. He viewed sales as the best way as it puts you on the front lines. Without sales there can be no business.

Paul learned sales as a commission-only rep selling high-tech systems to automotive markets. At Allen Testproducts he ranked 9 of 325 in his first year selling diagnostic systems. At Alldata Corp, a technical information systems startup, Paul achieved Sales Rep of the Year status out of over 300 reps. He was then promoted to Strategic Alliance Director and National Sales Trainer implementing programs that vastly increased revenues.

Paul was approached by a startup to build a sales team which he did. He got good at it. Other companies asked him to build a team. Soon he was building sales teams for many other clients. Paul has built 145 sales teams since 1987, including over 100 Internet startups, recruiting, training and managing over 20,000 reps.

At LegalMatch, an Internet lawyer referral startup launched in 2000, Paul implemented his proven successful referral business model in the legal space. He quickly created a sales team that grew from zero in a 2-bedroom apartment to over 160 reps and support staff in offices across the U.S. Cash flow positive status was reached in 6 weeks for a total investment under $2K. Revenues went from zero to $25 Million. All without any VC or bank loans, and during an era of extreme financial and social insecurity. A major factor in this success story was his unique approach to recruiting and his sales training program.

Paul then did other contracts in the online legal space including launching an online lawyer directory for Nolo Press, the premier consumer legal book publisher. Nolo had a unique position of dominating consumer awareness and attracting 1 Million site visitors each month. Paul proposed the program and collaborated with in-house marketing, technical, legal, and administrative staff to develop it for launch. He also did initial test sales and then recruited, trained, and managed an in-house sales team. Sales were an immediate success and the project is growing fast helping to extend the Nolo brand. Sales are estimated to be over $50 Million a year now after being bought out by Martindale Hubbell.

Paul earned an M.S. in the Bioengineering at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI., an M.A. in the Philosophy, Cosmology and Consciousness program at the California Institute for Integral Studies in San Francisco, a B.S. in Physics with a minor in Computer Science (high distinction) from Colorado State University in Fort Collins, CO, an A.S. in Electronics Technology, A.S. in Automotive Technology and A.A. in Liberal Arts at Henry Ford College in Dearborn, MI (all summa cum laude) and an ABA in Business Administration from Oakland Community College in Farmington Hills, MI (summa cum laude). Paul grew up in Detroit, spent 30 years in The Bay Area, is an avid e-bike rider (lately on the Poudre River Trail in Fort Collins, Colorado), earned a black belt in Shorin Ryu karate, served in the U.S. Army and plays a killer surf guitar (to take a break from computers and phones).